Young Roma speak about multiple discrimination
Barabaripen* (2014) includes life stories of nine young Roma affected by multiple discrimination in different parts of Europe – Albania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom. The publication also includes analysis of a multicultural team of researchers of the mechanisms of discrimination and draws attention to the strategies that young people use to tackle it.
Barabaripen is also an awareness-raising educational tool developed by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe under the framework of the Roma Youth Action Plan. You can find interesting proposals for educational activities with young people based on life stories, as well as background materials.
The publication addresses specifically the following grounds for discrimination: ethnicity, sexuality and gender identity, sex and migrant status. It will give you a closer look at how young people live their lives within and outside the Roma communities, what they have to cope with, and what strategies do they need to counter the common discriminatory attitudes that surround them.
The purpose of this booklet is to support the work against discrimination and for the rights of young Roma, as well as to reaffirm the need for recognising those groups of Roma young people who face discrimination at several levels, both inside and outside their community.
Multiple discrimination may still be a recent concept, but its reality is deeply-rooted in our societies. Young people themselves, by telling us their stories with their own words and emotions, reveal its deep dimensions and damage to the personality. On the other hand, throughout their stories they also represent the humanity, depth, complexity and uniqueness of each life experience.
*The instrument is titled after the word barabaripen, associated in Hindi with barbarism.
** Barabaripen is available in English with full online access on links below.
Sources:
- Council of Europe. Manuals and Handbooks. Council of Europe – official website: https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/manuals-and-handbooks
- Lucie Fremlova, Mara Georgescu, Gábor Hera, Laura-Greta Marin, Goran Miletic. 2014. Barabaripen. Young Roma talk about multiple discrimination. Council of Europe. (Youth Roma Action Plan): https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168046cfd5